Charlie Riedel/AP Photo

Today in Iowa, Rick Perry dismissed Newt Gingrich's complaints about the negative ads he and others have been running in Iowa.

"I don't consider them to be that brutal," Perry told ABC News in an interview while he was campaigning in West Des Moines. "We're just telling the truth about their records."

Gingrich has called the attacks by Perry and others "disgusting", "nasty" and "dishonest."

Perry says that's nonsense.

"When I talk about somebody was the godfather of earmarks or someone was for the individual mandate before Romney put them into law in Massachusetts, that's just being honest," Perry said. "There's no offense. It's just honesty is just good policy."

And Perry added: "It's not like they've played powder puff with me."